In the film Rushmore (1998), director Wes Anderson exhibits the animosity between the protagonist, Max (Jason Schwartzman) and his rival, the doctor, Peter (Luke Wilson) in a scene set at the dinner reception for Max’s new play. Peter comes to dinner in O.R. scrubs, which Max rudely comments upon. Anderson uses quick cuts from each character’s faces to juxtapose each character’s reaction to Max’s retorts. Anderson uses close up shots and extreme close ups, where the faces or heads of each character are framed in the center of the shot. This gives the scene a personal emotional element; the audience can look closely at the characters and see their reactions to Max's speech. The camera angle is mostly eye level, but it has some high angel shots. All of the sound is diegetic, with all of the characters being able to hear the sounds in the scene. There is almost no music except for some music trailing in from the previous scene. There is some low key lighting but mostly neutral lighting, giving the scene a dark, but comedic, tone. The camera mostly cuts from one person to another in the beginning of the scene, but this transitions to panning as the scene progresses. Also, Anderson uses indirect characterization, in the form of Max’s appearance and dialogue, to establish Max’s perception of his situation. Max has scratches all over his face and a bloody nose, but he is still making fun of Peter for wearing O.R. scrubs to a formal dinner. He openly shows his resentment for Peter, saying that Peter would not have known the dress code for the dinner because he was not invited, clearly demonstrating how his disapproves of Peter being there. Max speaks in an elevated formal tone. He tries to rise to speak eloquently in front of a table of adults but he just comes off as pretentious and immature. This scene also establishes through the quick cut from Max to his friend, Herman (Bill Murray), and then to his love interest, his science teacher Rosemary (Olivia Williams) that Max thinks that he and Herman are friends and that Herman will help him to win the heart of Rosemary Cross, but Herman Blume realizes what is really going on, but tries to make light of the situation by giving Max liquor. This only encourages Max’s ego, allowing him to express his full anger with Dr. Peter Flynn, the orderly. This scene climaxes with Max yelling at both Rosemary and Peter before revealing, albeit indirectly, his love for Rosemary Cross. She only reacts with silence and the scene ends.
Title: Rushmore
Director: Wes Anderson
In the film Rushmore (1998), director Wes Anderson exhibits the animosity between the protagonist, Max (Jason Schwartzman) and his rival, the doctor, Peter (Luke Wilson) in a scene set at the dinner reception for Max’s new play. Peter comes to dinner in O.R. scrubs, which Max rudely comments upon. Anderson uses quick cuts from each character’s faces to juxtapose each character’s reaction to Max’s retorts. Anderson uses close up shots and extreme close ups, where the faces or heads of each character are framed in the center of the shot. This gives the scene a personal emotional element; the audience can look closely at the characters and see their reactions to Max's speech. The camera angle is mostly eye level, but it has some high angel shots. All of the sound is diegetic, with all of the characters being able to hear the sounds in the scene. There is almost no music except for some music trailing in from the previous scene. There is some low key lighting but mostly neutral lighting, giving the scene a dark, but comedic, tone. The camera mostly cuts from one person to another in the beginning of the scene, but this transitions to panning as the scene progresses. Also, Anderson uses indirect characterization, in the form of Max’s appearance and dialogue, to establish Max’s perception of his situation. Max has scratches all over his face and a bloody nose, but he is still making fun of Peter for wearing O.R. scrubs to a formal dinner. He openly shows his resentment for Peter, saying that Peter would not have known the dress code for the dinner because he was not invited, clearly demonstrating how his disapproves of Peter being there. Max speaks in an elevated formal tone. He tries to rise to speak eloquently in front of a table of adults but he just comes off as pretentious and immature. This scene also establishes through the quick cut from Max to his friend, Herman (Bill Murray), and then to his love interest, his science teacher Rosemary (Olivia Williams) that Max thinks that he and Herman are friends and that Herman will help him to win the heart of Rosemary Cross, but Herman Blume realizes what is really going on, but tries to make light of the situation by giving Max liquor. This only encourages Max’s ego, allowing him to express his full anger with Dr. Peter Flynn, the orderly. This scene climaxes with Max yelling at both Rosemary and Peter before revealing, albeit indirectly, his love for Rosemary Cross. She only reacts with silence and the scene ends.
The scene: